Molter BV expands nursery with foil greenhouse of over 1,400 m2
Perennial plant grower Molter BV in Noordwijkerhout (NL) is making good progress. The new strategy and a new Rovero film greenhouse offer more space for activities at the beginning of the chain: breeding, tissue culture and the propagation of plants from seed, cuttings and tissue culture. "We are scaling down the actual cultivation of plants, but in terms of added value we are growing nicely," says director/owner Remy Lubbe.
Lubbe is delighted with his new foil greenhouse of over 1,400 m2, which he bought as a kit from Rovero and had built by his own team. Almost immediately after completion in March 2022, the five covers of 9.6 m wide and 30 m long were filled with seed trays. At the end of May, the trays are taken outside again to allow the plants to harden off. Some are potted for own cultivation, but most go to growers at home and abroad. Then the unheated greenhouse is available for rooting cuttings and tissue culture plants on plugs.
"Most varieties are sown in November/December. After a cold treatment, the trays go to the greenhouse in March," explains the propagator. "Until this year, we rented a glass greenhouse in the neighbourhood for this purpose. The new foil greenhouse on our own site meets my wishes even better. The light is always diffuse and we can maintain a higher humidity than in the glass greenhouse. That is very important in the germination phase. After the first month, we saw that the average germination percentage was 93%. That is unprecedentedly high; usually we got stuck at around 65%.
So it is good growing in the strong but lightweight foil greenhouse. The two outermost and the middle of the five roofs are provided with continuous ridge ventilation on the leeward (south-east) side, which is sufficient to cool the greenhouse and achieve a homogeneous greenhouse climate.
"It is a relatively simple greenhouse, but that is exactly what we were looking for," says Lubbe. "Rovero built a shadehouse for us ten years ago and we are still happy with it. So I did not have to think long about the supplier. What is special - for us as well - is that we built the greenhouse ourselves. There is time for that so early in the year and it seemed like a fun thing to do. It was a bit of a puzzle at times and the weather did not always cooperate, but we were ready in time for the important early spring round."
The arrival of the foil greenhouse stems from the strategy of the nursery, which was fine-tuned a few years ago. The entrepreneur: "We have been breeding real perennials, such as Geranium, Echinacea, Astilbe and other species, for 20 years. The demand for our product lines is growing steadily. This also applies to our plants from tissue culture. We would like to continue to grow in this field and this also means that we need space for rooting and growing on in a protected environment. Preferably at our main location, because that gives maximum control over the whole process."
A modern tissue culture laboratory has been set up in the company premises, from which 1.5 million plants will roll out this year. The lion`s share is destined for third parties. Production will be scaled up again next year.
Of the 16 ha of cultivation area, 1 ha is now reserved for breeding and 15 ha for outdoor cultivation.
"I see the greenhouse as a milestone for 2022," sums up Lubbe. "Next year we hope to be certified as an organic nursery. We have been in the highest MPS segment for some time. With full organic recognition, we can distinguish our sustainably grown, exclusive range even more clearly."